Posted tagged ‘laws’

As a follow up, the Times has just published a great write up of Malamud’s one man crusade to protect the public domain.

Back in May I wrote about Oregon’s copyright claims on its laws, which are exactly the sorts of things that belong in the public domain if anything do.

Now Carl Malamud (via BoingBoing) has begun a personal crusade to make these documents available. His latest effort was to scan and publish the entire text of California’s 38 volume code of regulations. He’s ready for a legal battle over his actions, and I wish him the best of luck. This is a fight worth having, I only hope sanity will prevail.

The state of Oregon is currently claiming that it’s laws fall under copyright laws and that they may not be printed without permission. William Patry, Google’s senior copyright council has written a truly excellent analysis of this travesty, with the best title for a blog post ever: Oregon Goes Waka Waka Hunka Kuna (via Boing Boing). And I had such a good opinion of the Pacific Northwest before this.